Don't Say Goodbye
by cj10824
Summary: For many recent high school graduates, leaving home for college is a highly anticipated event, but not for Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez. They are leaving for separate schools, but will they let that separate them? T&G oneshot.


**AN: Hey everyone! I know it's been forever since I posted something on here (over 3 months to be exact as my friend Kaitlin pointed out to me, lol, so this one's for her). I've been busy though with school and with my co-written stories, including a Christmas one called 'All I Want' that I wrote which you can read on walkingproof's account which is linked in my profile. Check it out if you haven't yet. Anyways, I'm still working on my other two co-writes and some other stories that I will post once they're finished. I hope you all like this one-shot. The song is by the band Skillet, and I recommend listening to the song as well. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or the song 'Don't Say Goodbye' by Skillet.

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Don't say goodbye cause I don't wanna hear those words tonight  
Cause maybe it's not the end for you and I and although we knew  
This time would come for me and you  
Don't say anything tonight if you're gonna say goodbye

For many recent high school graduates, leaving home for college is a highly anticipated event. It's the chance for independence, a chance for freedom, a chance to find themselves.

But for Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez, that was not the case. For them, the prospect of college was frightening. And it wasn't because they were ill-prepared for the experience. They had graduated almost three months earlier from East High School—both stand out students in their own ways.

Gabriella Montez was known for being one of the smartest students in the class. An all around good student, Gabriella was involved in Honor Societies, the Scholastic Decathlon Team, the Yearbook Committee, and numerous volunteer organizations. Beyond that, Gabriella was known as one of the sweetest girls in the school. Even though she was a little shy, Gabriella made every effort to be kind and encouraging to all that she interacted with.

And if you were to ask anyone at East High who Troy Bolton was, their first response would be the Captain of the basketball team. Yet most everyone knew Troy as much more than that. Troy was also a top student in the class, heavily involved in student organizations and community events. And like Gabriella, Troy Bolton was also known for his kindness to those students around him.

But yet, one final factor that was attached to Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton was their relationship with each other. Friends throughout elementary school and middle school, the two were near inseparable when they entered East High. And after being pushed together by their friends at the first freshmen school dance, the two had begun dating and had been together ever since.

And this last factor was the sole reason that Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez were terrified of college, because they knew that college ultimately meant separation for the two of them. It wasn't that they would be that far apart as far as miles were concerned. Troy had been accepted to the University of Connecticut on a basketball scholarship and Gabriella was headed for Columbia University to study Law. But yet both of them knew that it would be a struggle to stay together with all of the busyness of college.

Ever since they had found out they'd be attending different schools, the two had taken the approach to keep things normal between them and not really address the issue. They knew it would happen, so why stress about things out of their control. And it was with this mindset that they entered the summer. They had done countless things together, just enjoying their time together. There had been hanging out at friends' houses, dinner dates, movie nights, and even a surprise trip to San Diego for five days courtesy of their parents.

But now, the inevitable of them leaving had come. And as much as they wanted to stop time and just go back to the past four years together, they both knew that couldn't happen.

And as Troy lay on his bed on a sunny Saturday afternoon, flipping his basketball up in the air, all he was thinking of was their last conversation, which was almost a week earlier. The conversation that ultimately led him to the place he was now—on his bed instead of over at Gabriella's house spending their last day together before leaving. He knew that he was acting somewhat childish—refusing to go see her, which is what he wanted just because things weren't going to turn out the way he wanted them to. But after their last conversation, he didn't know how to face her. He didn't know what to say to the girl who had stolen his heart—the girl who would always have his heart no matter what happened between them.

_**Things are changing, it seems strange and I need to figure this out  
You've got your life, I've got mine, but you're all I cared about  
Yesterday we were laughing, today I'm left here asking  
Where has all the time gone now, I'm left alone somehow  
Growing up and getting older, I don't want to believe it's over**_

_**Don't say goodbye cause I don't wanna hear those words tonight  
Cause maybe it's not the end for you and I  
And although we knew this time would come for me and you  
Don't say anything tonight if you're gonna say goodbye**_

Troy sighed as he remembered their last conversation that had taken the week before. The two of them rarely fought, but when Gabriella had brought up her thoughts about the future of their relationship, Troy couldn't help himself as he blew up at her for the first time.

"_I'm gonna miss this," Gabriella sighed in contentment as she leaned back against Troy as they sat in the lawn chair looking up at the star-lit sky, a blanket tossed over them, their fingers intertwined, resting on her stomach. "We won't be able to see the stars like this once we get to college." _

"_Yeah," Troy agreed quietly, dropping a kiss to the side of her head, thinking more about the girl in his arms that he'd miss. "One of the many things that won't be the same. We've been spoiled out here for sure." _

_Gabriella nodded, feeling a lump in her throat as she worked up the courage to bring up the conversation she'd been dreading for months. "Troy, we need to talk." _

_Troy closed his eyes hearing those words. The talk. The dreaded, inevitable talk. The talk that every couple has before going off to college. Troy knew that most people figured this out long before the two of them did, definitely not a week before leaving. Yet here they were, a few days before it was time to go to their separate schools, and they had yet to really talk about what they were going to do. And Troy found himself wishing they could push it off a little more. _

"_Gabi, do we have to talk about this now?" Troy asked, even though he knew the answer. _

_Gabriella sighed, pushing herself up off of him, and sitting on the edge of the chair so she could face him. "Of course we do Troy! When do you expect us to talk about it? We're leaving Sunday morning."_

_Troy groaned, his hand coming up to rub his forehead as he sat up straighter. "But why? Things are great between us right now. Talking about it is just going to depress us both." _

_Gabriella shook her head, frustrated at him. "Why Troy? Because we have to. We're leaving in less than a week. And if we can't talk about this now, then maybe we should just forget about us. Because obviously, if we can't talk about what we're feeling now when we are two feet away from each other, how can we possibly cope hundreds of miles apart?"_

_Troy felt his heart break at her words and his eyes began to burn. Not wanting her to see his reaction, Troy quickly stood up from the chair, looking up at the stars and away from his girlfriend for a few moments as he rubbed his forehead, before turning his head back to look at her realizing she had stood up as well. _

"_Forget about us? That's what you want?" Troy exclaimed, trying to mask his pain but knowing he was failing at that effort. "I'm glad to know that's how you feel. I wouldn't have wanted to be strung along all these months thinking you wanted more. Good luck at college Gabriella," Troy finished before spinning around to take off. _

"_Wait, Troy no!" Gabriella pleaded, her hand reaching out to tug on his forearm as her tears built up. "That came out wrong." _

_Troy slowly turned around and Gabriella felt a pain in her chest and more tears burn as she saw Troy fight back tears. Troy reached over and placed his hand on top of hers that was gripping his arm, and Gabriella felt her hopes build, only to have them crushed as Troy lightly gripped her wrist and removed her hand from him. _

"_It's okay, Gabriella. I get it. I'm just not the type of boyfriend to be able to handle a long distance relationship. Really, I'll get over it. I know you'll do great at Columbia. Bye." _

_Without giving her a chance to respond, Troy took off across her backyard, pulling up his hood as he took off running back to his house, suddenly more scared than ever to leave for college. _

Troy flipped his basketball up in the air, still lost in his thoughts when the door to his room swung open, loudly banging against the wall, startling Troy who consequently dropped the ball on his head.

Groaning and rubbing his forehead, Troy turned to glare at the person in the doorway to see Chad standing there, a smirk on his face as he ate a cookie.

"What's up man?" Chad greeted. "You do know you're supposed to catch the ball right?"

Troy answered by grabbing the ball, chucking it at Chad and sending him a smug grin as it ricocheted off his side.

"Ah! Crap!" Chad yelled, bringing his hand up to his mouth.

"Dude that hit your stomach."

"I know! But it made me bite my tongue," Chad grimaced while walking towards Troy, picking up the basketball and tossing it to him before sitting in the chair at Troy's desk.

Troy rolled his eyes, "What are you doing here?"

"Can't a guy visit his best friend?" Chad questioned back jokingly before turning serious. "Shouldn't I be asking you that question anyways?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Why are you here instead of over at Gabriella's house?" Chad clarified, even though they both knew that Troy understood the first time.

Troy turned his eyes back to the ceiling. "Why would I be over there? She doesn't want to see me. We're done."

"That's not the impression I got when I was just there."

Troy sat up, leaning against the headboard as he turned his attention back to Chad.

"She's all torn up," Chad continued, realizing he now had Troy's attention. "Tay and I went over there earlier, and found her crying in her room as she was packing."

Troy felt hopeful for a few moments, thinking that maybe Gabriella still wanted to be with him, but his doubts took over once more as he shook his head. "She's just upset because she's leaving her friends and family."

"Dude what's wrong with you? She's upset because of what happened between the two of you. Gabriella doesn't want things to end between you guys."

"How do you know that?"

"Well for one, she was sitting in her room, staring at all the pictures she has of the two of you while wearing your sweatshirt and basketball shorts. And," Chad continued, standing up and walking over to Troy's nightstand, picking up his phone.

"Dude what are you doing?" Troy protested, trying to grab his phone back.

"Shut up. I'm proving to you that you're being an idiot." Chad made his way back over to the desk, flipping open Troy's phone. "Twelve missed calls, twelve voicemails, fourteen text messages, since yesterday, all from Gabriella."

"Chad, that's private. Give me back my phone."

"No way. Not until I knock some sense into you and you realize what you're giving up because of your stupidity." Chad said, opening up the text messages, reading the most recent. "_Troy please call me back. I really need to talk to you. I don't want to leave like this. Please. I love you."_

Troy sighed as he heard Chad read the message he'd read an hour earlier, feeling a pain in his chest as he thought of his own hurt and the pain Gabriella was experiencing as well.

Chad flipped the phone shut tossing it back at Troy. "Look man, I get that you're upset and hurt. But do you really think Gabs meant that she didn't want to be with you? We both know she does. And yeah, normally high school relationships don't last through college. But this is you guys. If you both want it to work, and you make that effort, it will. But, if you give this up now, you'll have no claim over her when she's hours away from you. And we both know Gabriella is too great of a girl for other guys not to realize that."

As Chad finished, it was like a light bulb suddenly went off in Troy's head. Quickly he shot up out of the bed, slipping on his flip flops and grabbing his phone and keys before darting out of the room.

Seconds later he ran back into the room, opening up the drawer on his nightstand and pulling out a small box before slipping it in his pocket.

"What's that?" Chad asked curiously, standing up from his seat.

"A ring," Troy answered back, running out the door.

"Wait wait! You got her a ring? When?"

Troy stuck his head back in the room for a second, his heart beating fast as was slightly out of breath. "A few weeks ago. Look man, I gotta go."

Chad walked over to the door, sticking his head out of the doorway as he watched Troy sprint downstairs.

"Where are you going?"

"To get my girl back. I'll see you later man!" Troy called out before running out the front door, leaving Chad behind who smiled proudly at himself before heading into the kitchen, grabbing a few more cookies and heading home.

---

"I can't do it Taylor," Gabriella murmured through her tears, glancing out the window. "I can't leave tomorrow morning knowing I hurt him so much."

"Gabi, you can't keep beating yourself up over this. You said something you didn't mean to. It happens to everyone," Taylor consoled her, feeling her own heart break as she watched her best friend who looked so broken.

"Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up in the first place."

"Don't think like that. It was a conversation you guys needed to have."

Gabriella sighed, turning to face Taylor while bringing her hand up to brush away some stray tears. "Ever since I found out we'd be going to separate schools, I've never wanted to go without being with Troy. I never wanted that freedom to date other people in college like some people do. I just knew that we needed to talk about how we were going to handle everything. And then I say one stupid comment, and now he's shutting me out."

"Maybe you should go over to his place," Taylor suggested, wanting nothing more than to see her two friends stay together.

"I've tried," Gabriella choked out. "I went over there the night after our fight, but his family was asleep and he wouldn't answer his phone. And then I've tried a few other times this week, but he's either been gone, or the one day he was there, but his mom answered the door and shook her head sympathetically at me. I don't blame him though. If he would have said something like that to me, I don't know if I'd want to see him either. Tay, you should have seen the look in his eyes afterwards. I've never seen him look so hurt."

Taylor quickly got up and rushed over to pull Gabriella into a hug as she broke down once more. "Gabi, don't give up okay? He'll come around eventually. That boy loves you too much to let you go like this."

"I hope you're right," Gabriella replied, finally calming down after she and Taylor separated from their hug. "I can't see myself with anyone but Troy, and I don't want to. When I found out I was going to Columbia, I wasn't even scared or upset about leaving my family. I was scared about being away from Troy."

_**Do you remember in December, how we swore we'd never change  
Even though you're leaving that our feelings would always stay the same  
I wish we could be laughing, instead I'm standing here asking  
Do we have to end this now, can we make it last somehow  
We both know what we've gotta say, not today  
Cause I don't wanna leave this way**_

_**Don't say goodbye cause I don't wanna hear those words tonight  
Cause maybe it's not the end for you and I  
And although we knew this time would come for me and you  
Don't say anything tonight if you're gonna say goodbye**_

Gabriella blinked away a few more tears, her mind going back to the day when she and Troy first found out they were going to different schools.

_Gabriella sat on her front porch, a white sealed envelope in her hands with the return address labeled 'Columbia'. Taking a deep breath she moved the envelope in her hands, turning it end over end, her eye catching the labels every so often. _

"_Now I know you're nervous, but this is no time to accidentally get a paper cut."_

_Gabriella's eyes shot up from the paper to meet her boyfriend who was looking back at her, his lips twitching into a grin. Quickly she sprang up from her seat on the steps, running into Troy's awaiting arms, feeling her whole body relax as his arms wrapped snuggly around her waist and his face rested in her hair. _

"_Miss me?" Troy asked, chuckling and kissing the top of her head before leaning back, keeping his arms tight around her waist. _

"_Not at all," Gabriella muttered sarcastically, laughing softly before leaning up on her toes to lightly kiss his lips. "You have your letter?" _

"_Got it right here," Troy nodded, keeping one hand on her waist as the other reached into his back pocket, pulling out an envelope addressed to him from the University of Connecticut. The two had gotten a few other letters from various schools, but in the past few days, they'd each received the much anticipated letters from their top choices, which they'd agreed to open together. _

"_You ready for this?" Gabriella asked, intertwining her fingers with his and leading him over to the step where they both took a seat. _

_Troy smiled, picking up the letter addressed to her that she'd left on the step and handing it to her. "I guess I'm ready. Am I nervous? Definitely. But, I've been waiting for this moment since I can remember."_

"_Me too," Gabriella sighed, staring down at her letter once more. Her eyes drifted up towards Troy as she felt him nudge her elbow with his. _

"_Open it," Troy encouraged, his arm wrapping around her shoulders as he let her rest against his side. _

_Gabriella smiled, her nerves building in anticipation as she carefully opened the envelope, pulling out the folded piece of paper inside, her eyes quickly reading over it. _

_Troy watched his girlfriend, smiling at her nervous excitement, loving the way she was nervously biting her bottom lip while her eyes scanned the page. Hearing her gasp, his eyes traveled back up to hers, breathing a sigh of relief as a wide smile took over her features. _

"_I got in!" _

"_Never had a doubt in my mind," Troy grinned sincerely. "Congratulations." Troy extended his hand out to her and gave her a high-five before sliding the palm of his hand along hers and intertwining their fingers, his other arm still resting on her shoulders. _

"_Thanks, Gabriella murmured, resting her head on his shoulder after planting a kiss on his cheek. _

_After a few moments Gabriella lifted her head, turning to grin at Troy. "Your turn." _

_Troy nodded before picking up the letter he'd set beside him, quickly tearing it open as Gabriella watched in nervous anticipation. _

"_I'm in!" Troy whooped in excitement, a huge smile forming on his face as he realized he'd be going to his dream school to play basketball. _

"_Of course you are. They'd be stupid to turn you down," Gabriella told him honestly, leaning up to softly press her lips to his. "I'm so proud of you," Gabriella whispered sincerely as they parted, resting her forehead against his. _

"_Right back at ya," Troy replied. Unable to resist, he leaned forward, kissing her softly once more. A few seconds later, Gabriella pulled back and snuggled into his side, the two content in just holding onto one another during the peaceful afternoon. _

"_So we both got into our top choices. I told you UConn would want you." Gabriella told him, her hand gripping the side of his waist. _

"_You did," Troy laughed, kissing her forehead. "Just like I told you that you were definitely getting into Columbia." _

_Gabriella sighed, snuggling more into Troy. "Connecticut and New York. That's a three hour drive." _

"_Two hours thirty-seven minutes actually," Troy corrected her, smiling as their eyes connected when she looked up at him amused. "But that's if you're going the speed limit," Troy added with a cheeky grin, causing Gabriella to shake her head. _

"_Still, that's a long way, considering now we're only five minutes apart." _

_Sensing the worry in her tone, Troy removed his hand from hers and brought it up to lay it softly on her cheek. "Gabi, don't worry about that right now, okay? When the time comes, we'll deal with all of that. Let's not focus on that right now though. Besides, it doesn't matter if we are three hours away or twenty hours away…I'm still going to be right here with you." _

_Gabriella felt tears prick her eyes at the sincerity in his voice, bringing her hand up to rest on his cheek, and feeling her heart flutter as Troy brought his lips down to hers, capturing them in a passionate kiss, wanting to forget about the uncertain future and instead focus on the beautiful girl in his arms that he hoped he could hold onto forever. _

Gabriella felt a few more tears fall as she remembered the words he'd spoken to her—the promise he'd made. She was brought from her thoughts as there was a loud thud on her balcony. Startled, she looked up to see Troy standing there, a worried look on his face as their eyes met for the first time in a week.

"I'll just let myself out. I'll see you in the morning Gabi," Taylor mumbled before sneaking out of the door, crossing her fingers in hopes that things would work out.

As her door closed, Gabriella opened her balcony door, leaning against the doorframe and watching Troy as he nervously shoved his hands in his pockets, her heart and mind racing wondering why he had come to see her.

"What are you doing here?" Gabriella asked in a curious tone.

"I couldn't do it," Troy said softly, his blue eyes pleadingly looking up at Gabriella.

"Couldn't do what?"

Troy boldly took a few steps forward, his eyes never leaving hers as his hand came up tentatively to caress her cheek.

"I couldn't let you go like that," Troy whispered, dropping his hand after wiping away a tear that had dropped from her eye. "I'm sorry I'm such an idiot Gabi. I should have let you explain, answer your calls, respond to your texts…something. Instead I just pushed you away, my worst decision yet."

"Well I should have never said what I did to you Troy. It just came out wrong," Gabriella blinked away a few more tears, wrapping her arms around herself as her eyes remained on Troy. "I really didn't mean it like that."

"I know," Troy assured her honestly, knowing it was the truth. Troy looked up at her, feeling his chest hurt as he saw her furiously blinking back tears as she nervously fidgeted in her spot. "Come here," he requested softly, holding out his arms for her and feeling a sense of relief as she fell into them.

Troy hugged her tight to himself, rubbing her back soothingly as her hands gripped his shoulders. After a few minutes of just holding each other, each of them feeling relieved to finally be near each other again, Troy loosened his grip, pulling back so he could look into her eyes.

"I think we need to talk now."

"The night before we leave? We really did end up doing the unconventional thing about waiting until last minute to have this conversation," Gabriella joked, earning a chuckle from Troy.

"Better to do it now than not have it at all," he pointed out, to which Gabriella agreed. "Can we sit?"

"Sure," she said before leading them towards her bed and sitting down, their hands intertwined as they rested between them.

Troy took a deep breath before turning to face her, his hand gripping hers more tightly. "I'm sorry for being so stubborn and not wanting to talk the other night. I kept putting it off when I really shouldn't have."

"Why did you not want to talk?"

"Honestly," Troy sighed, tearing his eyes away from hers to stare blankly at the wall, "I was afraid I'd lose you. I was afraid that once we had that talk, you would decide it would be better if we weren't tied down going to college."

Gabriella reached her free hand up, taking his face in her hand and tilting it back so he was looking at her. "You're not going to lose me Troy, not if you don't want to. I don't see it as being tied down, as you holding me back. I'm a stronger person with you Troy. And I want and need you there with me. I really can't imagine going through it without you."

"You sure?"

Gabriella nodded, her thumb stroking his cheek softly. "Listen, I know you said the other day that you aren't long distance boyfriend material, but that's a complete lie. Remember the day we opened our acceptance letters? You promised that no matter how far apart we were in miles, that you'd still be right there with me. I believe that Troy. I know we can make it through this, if we want to. Is that what you want?"

Troy nodded, his thumb brushing circles along the back of her hand. "Of course that's what I want. I'll do whatever it takes. Two and a half hours is nothing. Plus we have phone, texting, internet…"

"Weekends, holidays," Gabriella finished, the two smiling genuinely for the first time in a week. "We can do this."

"We can," Troy agreed before slowly leaning towards her, capturing her lips with his in a sweet kiss, his hand coming up to gently caress her cheek.

As the two of them pulled apart, Troy smiled, seeing her eyes slowly flutter open before they connected with his. Seeing the look in her eyes, Troy got a burst of courage, reaching into his pocket and feeling around for the small box. Once he found it, Troy pulled it out, setting it beside him before turning a little, taking both of Gabriella's hands in his.

"You know, I don't know what I did to ever deserve you. This past week has been miserable without having you there, and it just made me realize how in love with you I am. I think part of the reason why I reacted the way I did was because I always have this fear that one day you'll realize you deserve better than me, and decide you want nothing to do with me."

"Troy, I would never-," Gabriella began, only to be interrupted by Troy.

"I know Gabi. I believe that you want to be with me, but my stupid doubts got the best of me. But now that I know we are going to do this, I wanted to give you something." Troy took a deep breath, picking up the box in his hand, his eyes never leaving hers. "I bought this a few weeks ago, and I've been carrying it around waiting for the right moment."

Gabriella felt her eyes widen and her breath catch in her throat, seeing Troy pull out the small box. Carefully Troy opened it up, pulling out the small silver ring that was sitting inside.

"This is a promise ring, from me to you…a promise that I'll stay faithful to you and that one day, I will ask you to marry me. Gabriella I love you. And I know that you're it for me. I want you to wear this, so when you're at college, every time you look at it, you'll remember that I will always love you, and that I'm here for you always."

Not knowing what to say, Gabriella smiled widely at Troy before leaning over and passionately kissing him, sighing as she pulled back. "I love you too Troy."

Troy grinned back, resting his forehead against hers.

"Do I get to wear the ring?" Gabriella asked amusedly.

"Oh crap! Right!" Gabriella giggled at Troy's excitement.

Softly taking her hand in his, Troy lifted it, slowly sliding the ring on, his eyes never leaving hers as he lifted her hand to his mouth, his lips grazing the back of it.

Gabriella admired the ring for a few moments, unable to hide her happiness at not only Troy's gesture with the ring, but also at the fact that he had planned this weeks ago. Slowly Gabriella scooted back on the bed, pulling Troy with her as they lay on her pillows, Gabriella immediately curling into his side, her head lying on his chest.

"I'm going to miss this. You're not going to leave right? You're going to stay tonight?"

"Of course I will. I wouldn't have it any other way," Troy admitted softly, his lips grazing her hair, as they lay there with content smiles, finally feeling much less frightened of the struggles of college, knowing nothing could bring them down as long as they had each other by their side.


End file.
